


Fire alarms and Drunken confessions

by AAM_writes



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: College, F/M, Fluff, Oblivious Jughead Jones, Pining Betty Cooper, Pining Jughead Jones, bughead - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:21:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25691233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AAM_writes/pseuds/AAM_writes
Summary: This is my work for Bughead fest.My prompt is: One of them burns popcorn in the microwave, setting off the smoke alarm and the entire dorm has to evacuate.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 12
Kudos: 70
Collections: 8th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees, Bughead Fest Collection





	Fire alarms and Drunken confessions

Betty wakes up from the sound of fire alarm. She glances at the clock at her tiny bedside table and the digital numbers glare at her with red light, showing it’s just several minutes past 2 a.m. Her dormmate, Melody, rushes her out of their room and to the lawn in front of the building, where the other students are gathering.

Jughead stands on the lawn in front of the dorms keeping his eyes on the grass. Those, who live near their kitchenette narrow their eyes suspiciously at him. Just 3 weeks into his first college year and he has already fucked up setting the fire alarm in the dorm building at 2 a.m. on the week night with burnt popcorn. There wasn’t fire, just the smoke setting the alarm off. So he hopes they all will go back soon.

Jughead glances around the crowd and then his eye catches something familiar. Is it… Betty Cooper? Looks just like her, but very different at the same time.

Betty Cooper was the golden girl of Riverdale. The girl next door, the cheerleader, a straight A student, editor of the school’s newspaper and a volunteer. Betty Cooper was his elementary and middle school crush until he transferred to Southside High beginning high school, though he can’t say he stopped crushing on her as he kept catching glimpses of her around town.

But now she looks different. He is used to seeing Betty Cooper with a tight ponytail, in a perfectly pressed collared sweater, fit jeans and trusty keds. Now though…. now Jughead can’t tear his eyes from a pair of long smooth legs in tiny sleep shorts. She wraps her hands around her torso and he raises his eyes to see a loose grey t-shirt with a name of some music band on it. And then her hair… her hair is loose in soft golden blonde waves messy from sleep. Which he apparently interrupted.

Jughead ducks his head to look back at the grass and tries to move to the back of the crowd so Betty wouldn’t notice him and understand he is the troublemaker interrupting her rest by his guilty look.

Soon the crowd starts moving and students return to their dorms after the safety of the building is settled.

He lays in his bed and thinks about Betty Cooper. Wow. They are studying in the same college. Who would have thought. Definitely not his middle school English teacher. Betty probably would, she always was kind to him.

Jughead catches a glimpse of Betty a couple more times during the next two weeks and dreams of popcorn and her long legs once.

People seem to have already forgotten about the fire alarm and are discussing something that happed at one of the parties. Jughead is happy about not having people narrowing their eyes at him and finally finding a decent diner not far away from the campus.

He discovered it just the previous evening and came again right after classes to get a burger and start on one of his papers with the steady supply of coffee.

He settles into the booth and opens his laptop, waiting for someone to take his order.

“Jughead? Is it you?” he hears soft feminine voice.

When he raises his eyes, he is presented with a view of Betty Cooper, ponytail in place, radiant smile on her face and mint retro waitress’ uniform on her body.

“Hey” he breathes.

“I’m Betty, Betty Cooper. Not sure if you remember me, we went to school together.” she says blushing slightly.

“Of course I remember, Betty” Jughead smiles in return, musing internally how she could ever though he could forget her.

“Do you live somewhere around?” Betty asks.

“Yeah, I live in a dorm not far from her, got into NYU.” he confesses and her face brightens even more at that information.

“No way! Me too. It’s a wonder we haven’t run into each other before.”

Jughead’s ears turn pink with memories of first noticing her when he awaken the whole dorm with a fire alarm because of burnt popcorn and he hurries to say something to turn the conversation into other direction.

“Well, it seems we both can’t live without a diner even after leaving Riverdale.” he chuckles.

“Yeah,” she lets out a short laugh, “it’s not Pop’s, but it’s nice here.”

“Betty!” her manager calls for her.

“Oh, damn, I’m supposed to take your order and serve other tables too.” she says and it seems she really doesn’t want to go and would prefer to stay talking to him.

“It’s okay” Jughead chuckles, “I’ll take black coffee, double cheeseburger with fries and onion rings.”

“Will do” Betty chirps after writing down his order quickly, “We’ll catch up later?” she asks before leaving.

“If you want” he answers a bit stunned at her interest in catching up with him.

She beams at him and goes to take the order from a different table.

Jughead waits for the end of her shift and she joins him in the booth with vanilla milkshake.

They talk till almost midnight and he learns that she is studying investigative journalism, while he majors in creative writing and it really is surprising how they haven’t met before. They walk together to their dorms and he walks her up to her room.

Betty is sweet and open with him. He is surprised she started talking with him at all, let alone hang out in the diner chatting and joking around, and he feels his crush on her washing over him with new force.

Jughead starts coming to the diner not only for food and working on his assignments, but waiting for the end of Betty’s shift to chat with her while walking to their dorms. She always smiles when she sees him and often stops by his table even if he doesn’t need a refill.

They exchange phone numbers and his roommate is constantly nagging him about asking her out, but Jughead claims they are just friends. He is happy with it being that way even if he dreams of Betty and her long legs almost every night now. Because really, Betty Cooper will in no way consider him as something more than a friend and Jughead doesn’t want to test the fragility of his heart when she inevitably will smile politely and let him down softly.

On Jughead’s birthday his roommate joins him at the diner and talks about birthday burgers loud enough for Betty to overhear. Some time later she slips a piece of chocolate cake in front of him and pecks his cheek whispering “Happy birthday” into his ear. Jughead feels his skin growing hot and sees Betty with matching blush and sheepish smile on her face when she leaves to take order from other table.

His roommate talks eagerly about how it is a true sign that she is into him, but Jughead brushes it off says that it is just the way that Betty is. Even though the place where her lips touched his skin tingles and burns all evening.

On Thanksgiving Jughead doesn’t leave and Betty stays too. They huddle in her dorm room to watch movies and eat takeout food. Some time during the evening Betty confesses that she didn’t leave for holidays because her parents are splitting. Polly stayed with the Blossoms and Betty just couldn’t bear seeing her family falling apart alone. Jughead holds her while she cries and they continue watching movies cuddled under warm blanket.

During one evening a couple weeks later Betty is out with her friend Veronica. She keeps texting Jughead about how boring the party that her friend dragged her to is and they joke about wealthy snobs that she is texting him about. She stops texting him abruptly and he starts worrying and considers going to the address she sent him in case of emergency when two hours pass without a message from her. He is shrugging his sherpa jacket on when there is a knock on the door.

Opening the door Jughead is presented with the sight of Betty. Skin flushed, hair loose, eyes glittering. She blinks at him and sways a little. She must have been drinking.

“Hey” Jughead greets her and sighs in relief, at least she is alive and safe.

“Why aren’t you asking me out?” she blurts.

“Huh?” he blinks at her, taken aback.

She dashes past him into his dorm and starts rambling.

“We get along so good and you are so...so... I don’t know. You are handsome, like sooooo handsome. And smart and funny and oh, you are so cute. And your hair. I want to touch them. May I touch them? I didn’t want to be intrusive, but it seemed you enjoyed the time we spent together. And I thought maybe you liked me back? And everybody says that we totally look and behave like a couple already. And Veronica must be just tired of me constantly talking about you. But I waited and you haven’t asked me out yet. And if everybody says you like me too, then why haven’t you?”

Jughead stands gaping at her and processing all the information he’s just got. Betty thinks he is handsome? And wants to touch his hair? And she likes him? Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. What do I do?

When he is silent for several moments Betty tenses and her face changes with realization of what she has just done. It looks like she is sobering before his eyes and then covers her face with her palms in mortification.

“Oh my god, I’ve just made a fool of myself” he hears her muffled voice from behind her hands.

He wants to say something, but she uncovers her face and looks at him embarrassed, cheeks flushed.

“Sorry, you obviously are not interested and just…. just forget it” Betty says, her voice just slightly above whisper, her eyes glistening with something other than excitement, her drunken mind coming to incorrect conclusions too quickly.

She starts turning back to the door when it finally hits Jughead what’s been happening for the last fifteen minutes and he is standing and losing his chance while the girl of his dreams walks away.

“Wait wait wait” he catches her by her arms, keeping her from leaving, “Don’t leave, let me explain”

“Okay” she says shakily.

“So…” Jughead exhales nervously, “You are incredible and I has had a crush on you since childhood and just couldn’t in any dream imagine that you would see me as someone more than a friend. And I still can’t believe that you do and I am terribly afraid that I will screw this all up somehow or you will come to your senses and realize what a loser I am. But at the possibility that you won’t, will you go on a date with me, Betty Cooper?”

A radiant grin splits her face.

“Yes” she nods eagerly, then her eyes soften, “But don’t say those things about yourself, Juggie. You are not a loser. Haven’t you noticed how many girls I had to glare at so they wouldn’t come up to you at the diner?” she says, blushing deep red.

“Apparently not, I haven’t.” he blinks at her incredulously.

“Well…” she mumbles bashfully.

“So, the date.” Jughead reminds her.

“Yeah, date.” Betty smiles again.

“Tomorrow at 7? What do you think about movies and dinner?”

“Tomorrow at 7. I love it” she grins at him.

Jughead is nervous through the whole next day. He waits when Betty inevitably sobers up and realizes she was babbling bullshit the previous evening and she doesn’t actually like him or wants to go on a date with him. But nothing of these things happens and when he knocks at her door at 7 p.m. sharp, Betty opens it immediately with a shy smile and blushing cheeks. She is gorgeous. She is always beautiful and she hasn’t changed herself for their date, but he can tell she has dolled up for it and he can’t tear his eyes from her.

“Hey, you look nice” Jughead manages to say.

She blushes deeper and returns the compliment, “You look good too.”

And Jughead actually put some effort into his look. He wears the nicest pair of jeans he has and he fished out a sweater Mary Andrews gifted him the previous Christmas. He showered and used the perfume Toni made him buy before leaving to college.

He can’t understand what Betty has seen in him to like him in the first place and he is not going to ruin his chances with her by not putting a little effort into looking more presentable for her.

They spend the time together really good. At least Jughead thinks so.

They go to the movies and he is actually relieved when Betty doesn’t choose a cheesy rom com and they go to watch a thriller instead and share a huge bowl of popcorn.

Then they go to the diner where Betty works because she claims to be craving a milkshake. Everybody looks at them knowingly when they enter the diner doors holding hands.

They talk and talk until it’s late. It seems they always have something to talk or dispute about, whether it’s something they have common interest in or it’s something they have different opinions on.

They walk slowly to their dorms holding hands again. The conversation is easy. They talk about silly things and situations.

“Tell me about the most embarrassing situation you’ve been in” Betty asks.

Jughead gulps and falters for a moment, but decides it’s better not to hide anything. He also thinks Betty is not the person to judge.

“Um… at the beginning of this semester, about three weeks in I, um, I was watching documentaries and I wanted to make some popcorn and… well, it was actually me who set the fire alarm off in the middle of the night, because I got carried away with the documentary and forgot about popcorn.” he blurts the end of the sentence hurriedly and feels his cheeks starting to burn.

“Oh, I knew it was you” Betty says and he can hear her smile.

“What?!” he stops abruptly at her words.

“Someone said it was a guy in a weird beanie who set the alarm off, I didn’t pay attention to it then, but when I saw you in the diner it clicked.” she explains him softly.

Jughead reaches to touch a point of his crown beanie and rubs the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“Well, it seems everybody forgot about it already.” he mumbles.

“Of course they did, it’s college, next week some guy was running around campus naked and then something else happened” she chuckles.

Jughead lets out a laugh too.

They stand on the sidewalk looking at each other and still holding hands. He doesn’t know who moved first, or maybe they both moved at the same time, but the next moment he can feel her soft lips on his.

It just a brief touch at first, but then he raises his other hand to tilt her face up and presses and their lips more firmly. She hums with pleasure against his lips, leaning closer, her free hand moving to hold onto the lapel of his jacket and he is the happiest person on the planet in this moment.


End file.
